This review contains full spoilers for episode eleven of Andor, now available to view on Disney+. To remind yourself of where we left off, check out our Andor episode 10 review..
Episode 11 of Andor does exactly what it needed to: move its great cast of characters into position and sprinkle in a flourish of action, all while keeping the intrigue and tension rumbling along, leaving the series on a knife edge ahead of its season finale. Tony Gilroy’s take on the Star Wars universe continues to excel, achieving its ambitious vision thanks to standout scripts and the fantastic actors interpreting them.
Following their heroic escape from Narkina 5, we find Cassian and Melshi literally clinging to freedom as they avoid overhead Imperial attention. Excitingly, much like the audience, they have no real idea of where they’re heading next, their initial escape plan coming to a sticky end after their best Maverick and Rooster impression is thwarted by their underestimation of an alien race. The sort of arrogance normally reserved for the Empire in Andor, it’s a smart reinforcement of the ideas that both sides share qualities in each other – the Imperial complacency that let Cassian escape, in turn, lands him in another net after displaying some himself. Luckily, their captors show mercy in a rare light-hearted scene that enjoyably shows flashes of the original Star Wars trilogy such as when Chewie triggers an Ewok trap on Endor.
Maarva’s passing is unquestionably sudden. Fiona Shaw was superb in the role and it can’t help but feel a little odd that we didn’t get any more from her. That being said, the last time we saw her was that memorable emotionally impactful scene in Episode 7 with Cassian – one that was already a series highlight, but now hits twice as hard knowing it was the final time they spoke. It speaks a lot to the consistently high-quality writing of Andor that even when the words are delivered by a monotonous android, they still manage to pull on the heartstrings. The stuttering B2EMO may have been out of the action since the series’ earlier episodes, but undoubtedly makes its mark here by not wanting to leave Maarva’s home even after she has for the last time – a sentiment Cassian himself may well rue not sharing.
Still under the thumb of Imperial torture, Bix is a husk of her former self. Visibly exhausted and barely able to move or speak, she still bravely resists. Similarly, Mon Mothma also appears more drained than ever. Reminiscing about a brighter past and fearful of the future that awaits her daughter, it’s the first time we’ve seen a glimmer of dejection in a normally strong force for good. Both characters continue to be expertly portrayed by Adria Arjona (despite frustratingly having increasingly less to do) and Genevieve O’Reilly and are a reflection of an anthropomorphic galaxy – a resilient one that is weighed down by the oppressive nature of the Empire. Mothma’s tearful admittance to Vel that she may have to use her daughter as a bargaining chip is a gut punch of a moment made all the weightier by Nicholas Britell’s swelling score. Vel continues to develop as one of the series’ more intriguing characters. The way she glides from intimidating, to heartfelt, to cheery across both minutes and scenes lets her shine as one of Andor’s most malleable tools and is a testament to Faye Marsay’s multifaceted abilities as a performer.
Andor oozes class whenever Skarsgård and Whitaker are on screen together.
Further adding star quality are Stellan Skarsgård and Forest Whitaker. Andor oozes class whenever they are on screen together and their highly strung exchange this time around is no different. Luthen’s show-and-tell display of paranoia is a masterstroke and Saw’s response of “let’s call it war” is delivered with real spine-tingling energy. This battle of wits, followed by an unexpected but thrilling space battle makes for an incredibly entertaining last ten minutes. There’s nothing Luthen loves more than an elongated negotiation with an adversary, but turns out he’s just as handy in a dogfight, too – the morphing of his ship into a spinning winged impersonation of Darth Maul’s lightsaber a particular delight.
Despite a stellar recent run of episodes, it has been a bit of a shame that Kyle Soller’s Syril Karn has been kept in the backlines. Such an engaging presence in the beginning, he continues to slouch further down the incel pathway, even regressing all the way back to the “teenager who doesn’t want to leave bed” stage when we meet him again here. This, following on from his troubling stalker behaviour, solidifies him as a truly desperate character, one looking for acknowledgment wherever he can find it with even his own mother eager to mock him. A desperate person can often be a dangerous one, however, and Soller masterfully portrays this unnerving fragility throughout.
A revolutionary first and a son second, Cassian is absent for large chunks of Episode 11 as the characters that orbit him move into position. Diego Luna does a lot in a short amount of time, however, proving with the aftermath of one short phone call how great a facial actor he is, a tearful look shared with the horizon telling you everything you need to know about what he’s feeling inside. News of Maarva’s death has spread quickly through the galaxy, and with multiple different parties expecting Cassian to attend the funeral, a collision course seems all but certain in next week’s finale.
This, combined with Saw and Luthen’s apparently ill-fated mission, means all of the pieces are starting to firmly fit together to create a comprehensively constructed conspiratorial thriller jigsaw. It’s all set up perfectly and a real achievement of any prequel series to hold the amount of tension that Andor does in its palm. Apart from knowing the fate of a select one or two, anything could happen and it’s thanks to brilliantly built episodes like this that the explosive moments it’s sandwiched between shine so bright.
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